2007 Auto Club 500
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Race details | |||
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Race 2 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season | |||
![]() Track map of Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway)
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Date | February 25, 2007 | ||
Official name | Auto Club 500 | ||
Location | Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California, U.S. |
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Course | Permanent racing facility 2.0 mi (3.23 km) |
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Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
Weather | Temperatures up to 68.9 °F (20.5 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1] | ||
Average speed | 135.839 miles per hour (218.612 km/h) | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
Time | 38.765 | ||
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | |
Laps | 133 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | Fox | ||
Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds |
The 2007 Auto Club 500 was the second race in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on February 25, 2007 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
This was the first Cup race to use unleaded gasoline. All cars ran on Sunoco 260 GT Plus, a 104-octane (R+M/2) unleaded racing fuel. This is the fuel that NASCAR has planned to use throughout the 2007 season.
In the final accident of the race, David Reutimann was spun out accidentally by Greg Biffle and went into the wall in the corner. The strike to the wall was among the hardest hits NASCAR had ever recorded. The in-car camera showed him dazed by the impact and struggling to get out, unable to respond to his crew initially. Although he suffered a bruised foot, he was otherwise uninjured, and competed in the Busch Series race in Mexico City the next weekend.[2]
The race was won by Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Carhartt-sponsored Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Kenseth also led the most laps in this race while Jeff Gordon won the pole.
Contents
Results
Pos | Start | Car # | Laps | Status | Driver | Sponsor / Car Make | Money won (in US Dollars) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 17 | 250 | Running | Matt Kenseth** | Carhartt Ford | $342,326 |
2 | 1 | 24 | 250 | Running | Jeff Gordon* | DuPont Cromax Pro Chevrolet | $249,111 |
3 | 23 | 48 | 250 | Running | Jimmie Johnson* | Lowe's Chevrolet | $212,811 |
4 | 8 | 31 | 250 | Running | Jeff Burton* | Cingular Wireless Chevrolet | $173,441 |
5 | 3 | 01 | 250 | Running | Mark Martin* | U.S. ARMY Chevrolet | $171,708 |
6 | 6 | 07 | 250 | Running | Clint Bowyer* | Jack Daniel's Chevrolet | $119,875 |
7 | 18 | 2 | 250 | Running | Kurt Busch | Miller Lite Dodge | $140,583 |
8 | 11 | 20 | 250 | Running | Tony Stewart* | Home Depot Chevrolet | $148,161 |
9 | 12 | 5 | 250 | Running | Kyle Busch* | CARQUEST / Kellogg's Chevrolet | $109,525 |
10 | 15 | 83 | 250 | Running | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Toyota | $94,400 |
11 | 17 | 11 | 250 | Running | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Freight Chevrolet | $116,800 |
12 | 19 | 12 | 250 | Running | Ryan Newman | Mobil 1 Dodge | $128,275 |
13 | 29 | 18 | 250 | Running | J.J. Yeley | Interstate Batteries Chevrolet | $124,958 |
14 | 26 | 13 | 250 | Running | Joe Nemechek | CertainTeed Chevrolet | $90,450 |
15 | 13 | 16 | 250 | Running | Greg Biffle* | Ameriquest Ford | $108,400 |
16 | 39 | 6 | 250 | Running | David Ragan† | AAA Ford | $130,075 |
17 | 4 | 29 | 250 | Running | Kevin Harvick* | Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet | $136,786 |
18 | 31 | 70 | 249 | Running | Johnny Sauter | Best Buy Chevrolet | $87,450 |
19 | 24 | 40 | 249 | Running | David Stremme | Coors Light Dodge | $90,850 |
20 | 22 | 15 | 249 | Running | Paul Menard† | Quaker State / Menards Chevrolet | $87,850 |
21 | 42 | 7 | 249 | Running | Robby Gordon | Jim Beam Ford | $90,700 |
22 | 37 | 45 | 249 | Running | Kyle Petty* | Wells Fargo Dodge | $104,908 |
23 | 41 | 96 | 249 | Running | Tony Raines | Texas Instruments DLP HDTV Chevrolet | $99,500 |
24 | 38 | 19 | 248 | Running | Elliott Sadler | Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge | $105,670 |
25 | 40 | 38 | 248 | Running | David Gilliland | M&M's Ford | $114,314 |
26 | 9 | 42 | 248 | Running | Juan Pablo Montoya† | Texaco / Havoline Dodge | $120,475 |
27 | 34 | 88 | 248 | Running | Ricky Rudd | Snickers Ford | $116,233 |
28 | 28 | 43 | 248 | Running | Bobby Labonte | Cheerios / Betty Crocker Dodge | $121,436 |
29 | 21 | 99 | 247 | Running | Carl Edwards | Office Depot Ford | $92,200 |
30 | 16 | 66 | 247 | Running | Jeff Green | Yellow Transportation Chevrolet | $106,608 |
31 | 10 | 25 | 246 | Running | Casey Mears | National Guard / GMAC Chevrolet | $91,275 |
32 | 43 | 44 | 246 | Running | Dale Jarrett | UPS Toyota | $80,575 |
33 | 33 | 00 | 239 | Accident | David Reutimann† | Domino's Pizza Toyota | $92,958 |
34 | 32 | 37 | 220 | Electrical | John Andretti | Camping World Dodge | $80,150 |
35 | 27 | 14 | 198 | Electrical | Sterling Marlin | Panasonic Plasma HDTV Chevrolet | $89,472 |
36 | 36 | 21 | 160 | Engine | Ken Schrader | Little Debbie Ford | $98,989 |
37 | 35 | 26 | 134 | Running | Jamie McMurray | Crown Royal Ford | $87,550 |
38 | 2 | 9 | 129 | Engine | Kasey Kahne* | Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge | $137,991 |
39 | 14 | 22 | 112 | Engine | Dave Blaney | Caterpillar Toyota | $87,180 |
40 | 5 | 8 | 74 | Engine | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Budweiser Chevrolet | $124,433 |
41 | 30 | 10 | 16 | Accident | Scott Riggs | Stanley Tools Dodge | $86,900 |
42 | 7 | 1 | 14 | Engine | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | $105,155 |
43 | 20 | 41 | 7 | Accident | Reed Sorenson | Energizer e2 Lithium Dodge | $89,693 |
Time of Race: 3 hours, 36 minutes, 41 seconds.
Average Speed: 138.451 MPH.
Margin of Victory: 0.679 seconds.
Lead Changes: 28 among 12 drivers.
Cautions: Nine for 37 laps.
Cars finished on the lead lap: 17
Attendance: 87,000
Key
* Led one lap
** Led most laps
† Rookie of the Year Candidate
Did not qualify
The following eight drivers failed to qualify for the race: #55-Michael Waltrip, #4-Ward Burton, #36-Jeremy Mayfield, #84-A. J. Allmendinger, #72-Brandon Whitt, #49-Mike Bliss, #78-Kenny Wallace and #34-Kevin Lepage.
Withdrew
Scott Wimmer in the #33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Regan Smith in the #39 Ginn Resorts Chevrolet for Ginn Racing, and Derrike Cope in the #74 McGlynn Racing Dodge all withdrew from the race.
Race Recap
Cautions
Lap of incident | Laps of caution | Cars causing the caution | Description |
---|---|---|---|
7 | 5 | 10, 26, 41 | Scott Riggs got loose on the backstretch and was hit by Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray. Sorenson retired from the race (finishing 43rd), Riggs only briefly returned and McMurray later returned after being in the garage. |
14 | 4 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. blew an engine, he was done and finished 42nd. |
20 | 3 | 6 | David Ragan spun coming onto the backstretch, but didn't hit anything and continued on. |
54 | 5 | 14 | Sterling Marlin spun on the backstretch, hitting the outside wall. He went behind the wall for repairs, later retiring due to electrical problems. |
92 | 4 | none | Debris (on the backstretch). |
115 | 4 | none | Debris (location unknown). |
120 | 5 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr., having just returned from the garage due to engine problems, lost it completely. He spun in turn 3 and 4 but didn't hit anything. He retired from the race, finishing 40th. |
226 | 4 | none | Debris (on the backstretch). |
243 | 3 | 00, 16, 43, 88 | Greg Biffle got into David Reutimann, sending him hard into the turn 3 wall. Reutimann's car briefly caught fire and was demolished. He was not injured but briefly was knocked unconscious! so he was out of the race and finished 33rd. Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte were also involved. The race was red-flagged for cleanup. |
Race awards
Award | Winner | Notes |
---|---|---|
Budweiser Pole Award | Jeff Gordon | 185.735 mph |
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race | Mark Martin | |
Sunoco Diamond Performance Award | Matt Kenseth | |
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap Award | Kasey Kahne | 183.15 mph, lap 3 |
Commit Lozenges Commit to Win Award | Kasey Kahne | leader of first lap |
NASCAR DirecTV Crew Chief of the Race Award | Ryan Pemberton | crew chief for Mark Martin |
Checker's/Rally's Double Drive-Thru Challenge Award | Mark Martin | |
Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award | David Ragan | |
Wix Filters Lap Leader Award | Matt Kenseth | 133 laps |
Dow Automotive Strategic Call of the Race Award | Matt Kenseth | |
EA Sports Move of the Race Award | Matt Kenseth | |
USG Improving the Finish Award | Matt Kenseth | 24 places |
References
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